From Hazel to Me
I first read the old family history book when I was 10 or 12. It's been in the back of my mind ever since. When I enter names in a GEDCOM database I think of their place and time - pioneers, town-builders, teachers and mayors and preachers.
I have a strong sense of my connection to my second great-grandfather's role as a trooper in the Civil War and have become a student of those events as a result.
Seymour Burroughs stands in his cavalry uniform in a picture taken in Omaha, Nebraska. (What was he doing there?) He rose to the rank of Captain, serving under the likes of Judson Kilpatrick, and George Custer. He was wounded at the battle of Cold Harbor in June of 1864.
Did he go back to Baltimore to his new bride of four months? (They had been married the previous January.) They moved to Dunkirk, New York where Viola and Harry were born and then back to Lafayette, Indiana.
I want to know about their lives. There is a Burroughs Street in Lafayette. Was their home on that street?
Viola grew up and was married to Harry J. Putt. Here is my grandmother's entry in the family history book:
Hazel B. (Viola4, Seymour3, Rebecca2, John1) is the oldest daughter of Viola May and Harry J. Putt. She was born April 27, 1886, at Lafayette, Ind. In 1893 her parents moved to New York City. She graduated from the public schools in that city. She is a member of Grace Baptist Church. By occupation she is a milliner. Her home is with her parents at 1017 Trinity Ave., New York City.
I have a photo of my grandmother in front of the Burroughs house in Lafayette. She stands, hand on hips, looking very annoyed with the photographer. Her grandmother Cassie Belle hovers nearby.
Meanwhile in the expanding metropolis of New York, another teenager was growing up - Frank Nilsen (or sometimes Nilson). Developing into a strong swimmer, he took a life guard position at Coney Island.
I wonder how they met? Anyway they did, and spent much time traveling together all around the countryside in Frank's Cadillac. One of their favorite places to visit was the Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg. (Also see my website of an antique guidebook from that time.)
Here's where I'll end for now. Check back as I 'll be adding to this in the future.